Earlier in the month, I traveled to Kosice, Slovakia to visit my team of software engineers at NESS. It took three connecting flights, and progressively smaller airplanes, through Frankfurt and Vienna to get there.
The great thing about working at NAVTEQ is that we were such an international company, support for international business travel is absolutely the best. I got a note on culture and weather highlights of Slovakia right after I booked the trip. I also have 24/7 emergency contact, anywhere in the world. In the packet, it mentioned that the Slovakian law enforcement is a bit corrupt. If there were any issue with the law enforcement, traveler should contact U.S. Embassy immediately.
Arriving in Kosice, my colleague picked me up at the airport. On our way to the hotel, we got pulled over by a police car. The officer came over was armed with a rifle across the front. After the officer went back to his car, my colleague said that he forgot to turn on his head light, and the fine would be 30 euro. I told him that I have a 50 euro with me, and I can pay for it. My colleague immediately told me no, and started driving away. The police car just followed us till we stopped in the city. My colleague got off the car, run to an ATM, get some cash, take the cash to the police officer, then drove away like nothing had happened. He later told me, if I were to give him the 50 euro, then the fine would have tuned into 50 euro. Yep, got it.
Both the office and the hotel were right next to the city center promenade. It was a beautify place to take a stroll. I was expecting to see war torn scars and reconstructions left over from the World Wars. However it very well preserved. It’s like walking through a medieval city as it was a few years ago. Very fortunately, the wars seemed to have spared this region of the world.
I took the team out to a team lunch on a Friday. The restaurant was in the basement of the medieval building. Very cozy setting with a good menu of local flavor. When we sat down the waiter were grumbling and did not seem very enthusiastic to see us. I asked the team lead what were the issues and he told me that the waiter were not happy that he had to do extra work. Apparently some old habit from the communist regime still lingered around.
Itinerary:
ORD – FRA – VIN – KSC
Bristol Hotel Košice
Inflight movies:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball (2009)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
G-Force (2009)